Purported mobster who spoke of blow-torch pleads guilty

CHICAGO (AP) — A purported Chicago-area mob associate who bragged about threatening people with a blow-torch has changed his plea to guilty.

The Chicago Tribune reports Charles “Chuckie” Russell of Schaumburg pleaded guilty Wednesday to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The 68-year-old was arrested before Christmas in 2016 after being captured on wiretap recordings speaking to an informant about breaking into someone’s home safe. At one point, he says that when he puts a butane torch on the bottom of a target’s feet, they do what he says.

Sentencing is set for Aug. 17. Prosecutors say they’ll request that Russell be declared an armed career criminal. That kicks in a mandatory minimum 15-year sentence. Russell has stage 4 prostate cancer. His lawyer says he’ll ask for a less severe sentence.